Sounds like asthma. The body sometimes has a way of "symbolizing" emotional problems. Asthma is sometimes a way of expressing that one is feeling suffocated by one's surroundings or that sort of thing. But of course this isn't what you meant so never mind. It's physically impossible to hold one's breath enough to die. ----- Original Message ----- From: To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: 5/10/2006 11:57:03 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Tune and Turn Off - Panic Attacks Okay. Let's take a poll. How many people on this list have had a situation where they could exhale but not draw any breath in, terrifying them that they were going to die? Inability to inhale is somewhat problematic, no matter what the cause. Julie Krueger not sure what counts as a panic attack ========Original Message======== Subj:[lit-ideas] Re: Tune and Turn Off - Panic Attacks Date:5/6/06 5:01:29 P.M. Central Daylight Time From:carolkir@xxxxxxxx To:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent on: from Andreno: >The point, however, is there's an >unconscious psychological need to induce the panic in one's self through >shallow breathing. ck: Hyperventilation as a "psychological need." Now, that's a new one. Carol ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html